| South Slavic languages and dialects |
|---|
| Bunjevac | |
|---|---|
| bunjevački | |
| Native to | Serbia (Vojvodina), Hungary |
Native speakers | 6,800 (2011)[1] |
Indo-European
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
| Part of a series on |
| Croats |
|---|
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The Bunjevac dialect (bunjevački dijalekt),[2] also known as Bunjevac speech (bunjevački govor),[3] is a Shtokavian–Younger Ikavian dialect of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language, used by members of the Bunjevac community. Their accent is purely Ikavian, with /i/ for the Common Slavic vowels yat.[4] Its speakers largely use the Latin alphabet and are living in parts of the autonomous province of Vojvodina in Serbia as well as in southern parts of Hungary.
There have been three meritorious people who preserved the Bunjevac dialect in two separate dictionaries: Grgo Bačlija[5] and Marko Peić[6] with "Ričnik bački Bunjevaca"[7] (editions 1990, 2018), and Ante Sekulić[8] with "Rječnik govora bačkih Hrvata" (2005).
In the 2002 census results published by the Statistical Office of Serbia, Bunjevac speech was not listed among main languages spoken in Serbia, but those that declared that their language is Bunjevac were listed in category "other languages". For example, in the municipality of Subotica, the number of those listed as speaking "other languages" (presumably Bunjevac) was 8,914.[9]
According 2011 census in Serbia, 6,835 people declared Bunjevac dialect as their mother tongue (bunjevački maternji jezik) and it was listed independently.[1]
Opinions on the status of the Bunjevac speech remain divided.[10][11][12] Bunjevac speech is considered a dialect or vernacular of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language, by linguists. Popularly, the Bunjevac dialect is often referred to as "Bunjevac language" or Bunjevac mother tongue. At the political level, depending on goal and content of the political lobby, the general confusion concerning the definition of the terms language, dialect, speech, mother tongue, is cleverly exploited, resulting in an inconsistent use of the terms.[13][14][15]
In the old Austro-Hungarian censuses (for example one from 1910), Bunjevac was declared as a native language of numerous citizens (for example in the city of Subotica 33,247 people declared Bunjevac as their native language in 1910). During the existence of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, members of the Bunjevac ethnic community mostly declared themselves as speaking Serbo-Croatian.
According to the 2002 census in Serbia, some members of the Bunjevac ethnic community declared that their native language to be Serbian or Croatian. This does not mean that they do not use this specific dialect, but merely that they do not consider it sufficiently distinct from the aforementioned standard languages to register as speakers of a separate language. However, those Bunjevci who declared Bunjevac to be their native language consider it a separate language.[16]
The speech of the Bunjevci was officially standardized in Serbia in 2018[17] and approved as standard dialect by the Ministry of Education for learning in schools.[18][full citation needed][19] Speakers use in general the standardized dialect variety for writing and conversation in formal situations.[20] Theodora Vuković has provided, in 2009, the scientific methodology for the finalization of the standardization proces of the Bunjevac dialect corpus in Serbia.[21][22]
There is ungoing wish among the members of the Bunjevac community for affirmation of their dialect (mother tongue) in Croatia, Hungary, and in Serbia. The Bunjevac National Council has the following projects in Bunjevac dialect in Serbia: Montley newspaper: "Bunjevačke novine", TV programme "Spektar", broadcaststed by Radio Television of Vojvodina, Language school program for Bunjevac speech and culture: "bunjevački govor s elementima nacionalne kulture".[23] And the Croat National Council in Subotica, is organizing the yearly Bunjevac Song Contest "Festival bunjevački pisama"[24]
On March 4, 2021, the municipal council in Subotica has voted in favor of amending the city statute adding Bunjevac speech to the list of official languages in the municipality, in addition to Serbian, Hungarian, and Croatian.[25] This has created a special situation that contradicts the official position, of both the Serbian government and Matica Srpska, that classified Bunjevac speech as a dialect.[26] Also other scholars from Serbia and Croatia confirm the linguistic dialect status of the Bunjevac speech.[27][28]
The Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics launched a proposal, in March 2021, to the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, to add Bunjevac dialect to the List of Protected Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Croatia.[29]
The status of the Bunjevac speech and the identity and nationality dispute of people calling themselves Bunjevci or Bunjevac-Croats, has been on the political agenda of stakeholders involved for decades, influencing bilateral cooperation between Croatia and Serbia,[30][31] domestic political developments in Serbia[32][33] and Croatia, and the implementation of political decisions of the EU.[34][35]
![Map of Shtokavian dialects. Shtokavian or Štokavian (/ʃtɒˈkɑːviən, -ˈkæv-/; Serbo-Croatian Latin: štokavski / Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: штокавски, pronounced [ʃtǒːkaʋskiː]) is the prestige dialect of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language and the basis of its Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin standards, as well for Bunjevac sub-dialect. It is a part of the South Slavic dialect continuum.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Shtokavian_dialects.svg/420px-Shtokavian_dialects.svg.png)
